What is
your day-to-day routine like at work?Desk work-shooting-meeting

When you are designing do you ever have a particular person
in mind thatyou want to wear
those pieces? Or do you create according to your owntastes?Both. I have muses on each season for example,
Rita Ora was my muse for2013 S/S.But not for all clothing because I have to make
many stuff includingmainstream on
trend items and stuff.

You’ve
previously said that London girls have a good eye for fashion. Whatdo you like about London girls’
style?They’re really good at mixing used clothing with
original new stuff,and the way
they dress up is so unpredictable but natural at the sametime, London girls are phenomenal!Also, since London is such a fancy city, maybe
that is why they are sofashionable.

What first got you interested in fashion?I’ve been really into fashion since when I was
in kindergarten.But when I
started to model, that's when I really got what fashion is.

Who is your all-time fashion idol?No one in particular.

Which aspects of your work life do like the most – modelling,
designing orDJing?Designing! I love all of my jobs, but designing
is my main job and it ismy expression.

What are your top tips for girls who want to get into fashion
design?Quick actions and play hard!Always create your own lifestyle and self-plan!

What achievements in your career are you most proud of?Walked on the red carpet of “Transformer” Japan
premier as a Japanese guest.Won a
“best hair awards” as a new style section!Both of them were my pride achievements in Japan.

Sunday, 14 September 2014

The current issue is dedicated, in a very timely fashion, to Neverland.

Neverland was perhaps one of the most fascinating aspects of Michael Jackson's private life and much is uncovered about the construction of this dream home in the issue through conversations with many people who had a hand in creating it.

Iconic even managed to acquire exclusive designs for a water park that was set to be installed at Neverland...

My contribution to the issue is an essay looking at Michael Jackson's identification with Peter Pan.

Saturday, 13 September 2014

There’s no need to explain this phenomenon in
detail. Kate Bush breaking her 35 years of being conspicuous by absence from
the stage is a big deal. The biggest deal. One particularly lively Kate Bush
fan forum quite rightly has an active thread asking where Before The Dawn
“ranks in your emotional experiences”. This is not hyperbole. My first draft of
this review was a page sodden with tears and drool. Before The Dawn rates pretty
damn highly in my own record of “emotional experiences” as it is exactly that –
not a gig, not a show, not a musical but an “experience” in every sense of the
word.

Where to begin? For anyone who has been lucky enough
to be immersed in Before The Dawn will understand the difficulty in expressing
the scale and impact of the night. It is structured into three sequences – the
first sees Kate Bush fronting a band for a set of music, which seems straight
forward enough… more on that momentarily. The second is the centrepiece, ‘The
Ninth Wave’, Kate’s concept suite on the second side of Hounds Of Love brought to life and made flesh. The third, after an
interval, is another swathe of conceptual beauty as Aerial’s continual ode to the power of nature, titled ‘A Sky Of
Honey’, is played out musically and theatrically in full. If Before The Dawn
had consisted of just one of these acts it would have been more than enough to
justify the hype of Kate Bush’s live comeback, but the fact that she is
spoiling her audiences’ three times over means you are left overawed by her
generosity of talent, spirit and vision.

The straight opening set of six songs is nothing
short of spectacular. Kate Bush grooves on stage barefoot, followed by her
backing singers, with the warmest of smiles to a room of people all audibly
holding their breath as they adjust to her presence and await her voice. ‘Lily’
is a perfectly selected first song. It’s only right that something from ‘The
Red Shoes’ – an album written and recorded with touring in mind – should
commence this momentous occasion. ‘Lily’ is given a storming makeover and packs
more of punch live than anyone could have imagined. The sound of Kate Bush and
her band is truly astounding; its richness fills the theatre to bursting point.
The urgent pounding drums of ‘Hounds Of Love’ breaks through for song number
two. How can a night get any better, any higher than the ‘Hounds Of’ bloody ‘Love’?
The beaming grin on drummer Omar Hakim’s face summarises his and his fellow
band members unmistakable joy to be playing these hallowed songs. Aerial’s ‘Joanni’ is next, followed by The Red Shoes’ ‘The Top Of The City’
which again, is realised on such an overwhelming scale that is feels utterly
removed from the original recording. ‘Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)’
inspires a thankful cheer from the audience before demanding revered silence.

All the while Kate Bush’s voice is nothing short of
faultless. Just like you imagined it would be yet somehow even better. Her
backing singers too make an impact all of their own. ‘Top Of The City’ sees
them creating a powerful, vocal wall of sound. ‘King Of The Mountain’, another
towering number, brings this section to an abrupt end – a curtain descends and
an explosion of confetti rains down. Wait… Nope, it’s not confetti, its tissue
paper inscribed with an extract from Lord Tennyson’s ‘The Coming Of Arthur’. “Wave
after wave… Till last, a ninth one…”

And so it begins, after almost 30 years of waiting
‘The Ninth Wave’ is fully executed. A ship, The Celtic Deep, is in trouble. A
lone, female passenger is missing. And there she is, Kate Bush adrift in a sea
of darkness, framed by her orange life jacket singing straight to camera (for
this is a filmed segment) ‘And Dream Of Sheep’. It is deeply affecting. The stage
has been transformed into a fearsome underwater realm with only live fish
skeletons to keep Kate company on her one woman voyage. The feats of
theatricality reached in this portion of the show are astounding – Kate
bursting suddenly through the floor of the stage as her outer body experience
takes hold; the rocking ship that houses the ghostly domesticated scene of
‘Watching You Without Me’; the helicopter search light that swoops over the
audience; Kate’s distressing cries of “Let me live!”; and finally, and most
touchingly, her lone outstretched hand that secures her safe return to land.

“Thank you,” Bush beams to the standing mass before
her – just one of the many, I lost count after standing ovation number 11, that
the performance demands this evening. “We’re going to take a quick break, if
that’s alright?” she humbly asks. We need to get our breath back more than she
does, trust me. “What can possibly happen next?” I wonder. “What is she going
to do? Fly?” I chuckle…

Yes, for her final act Kate Bush becomes one with
her favourite musicians, the birds, and takes flight after being fitted with a
cumbersome set of wings towards the dénouement of ‘A Sky Of Honey’. Again, it’s
one of many magical moments that accompanies one her most impressive musical
landscapes – puppets coming to life; showers of billowing feathers and tree
trunks crashing through the night time set. It is at this point that Kate
Bush’s son – Bertie – takes up his biggest onstage role (having also been
credited as “Creative Advisor” for these shows and serving as backing singer)
as he plays “The Painter” who frets over nature’s ruinous effects upon his
canvas. Although his biggest cheer came when his mother sang, “I’ll tell my son…”
during ‘The Morning Fog’, so key has his influence been over making her live return
real. ‘A Sky Of Honey’ roars to a glorious end with Kate Bush howling at human
limitations, “I’ve gotta be up on the roof”, despite transcending the
possibilities of performance here before our very eyes.

Two final treats are in store: The first, a calming,
lone encore of Kate Bush at the piano playing ‘Among Angels’ from 50 Words For Snow (no material predating
1985 is played). The second, a rousing rendition of ‘Cloudbursting’ where
everyone is more than happy to bellow out their own “yeah yeah yeah yeah
ooooooooh”. Kate gorgeously growls that most inspiring of lines, “But just
saying it could even make it happen,” pointing a finger towards the crowd as
she does so in the sassiest of fashions. After this monumental residency comes to
an end, who knows what else Kate Bush could make happen. Conversely she could
disappear and take one of her extended, working breaks once again. Either way
Before The Dawn marks yet another apex of Kate Bush’s evolutionary life and
art.

Tuesday, 2 September 2014

Hi Stateside Galore girls! This list is written
specially for you. As you may know, the whole of the UK is going batshit crazy
for Kate Bush right now. We are currently in the grip of certifiable Bush
Mania!

Last week saw the premiere of Ms. Bush’s ‘Before The
Dawn’ live residency – her first live shows in over 35 years. She has not
staged a concert since her 1979 ‘Tour Of Life’. No one truly knows why she has
remained absent from live music (so ignore anyone writing claiming they do!)
all that matters is that she’s back! And we are LOVING IT!

All 22 dates of her ‘Before The Dawn’ show sold out
in less than 15 minutes after the complete surprise of their announcement.
Critics are running out of stars to assign to their reviews of her shows. She
made chart history yesterday by being the first female artist to have eight
simultaneous entries in the UK top 40. And a new documentary about her (in
which she did not appear, because, duh, she didn’t have to) proved so popular
the number of viewers trying to catch it again online crashed BBC’s iPlayer. Here are five key reasons why Kate
Bush should be your queen:

Kate
Bush educates you

In comparison to all other music artists, no one
understands, translates and transmits their cultural references more effectively
than Kate Bush. Lady Gaga trying to channel Andy Warhol? Pah! Miley Cyrus
calling her ‘Bangerz’ tour “educational”? Ha! Beyonce quoting Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie? Hmm. Well done for trying to
convince us you’re all cultured and shit, but this shallow magpie stuff doesn’t
fly with Kate Bush fans. Listening to Kate Bush will not only make you book
smart, she will also increase your existential and linguistic intelligence. She
will teach you to sing pi to 138decimal places (‘Pi’), she will
introduce you to Wilhelm Reich (‘Cloudbursting’), Gurdjieff (‘Them Heavy People’) and generally make you question
the limits of human knowledge (‘Sat In Your Lap’).

No one tells Kate Bush what to do

Being told by my father that Kate
Bush was the first female artist to have a number one single with a self-penned
song is what sparked my interest in her. That song, of course, was 1978’s
‘Wuthering Heights’, a song she insisted her record company release as her
debut. After that, there was no way any music executive could act like they
understood her artistry better than her. Her refusal to play the fame game is a
defining quality of her career – her one-off UK tour, the limited number of
interviews she gives, the time she takes to make records (there was a 12 year
gap between ‘The Red Shoes’ and ‘Aerial’), her selective public appearances –
and it’s a shame no artist since has been brave enough to believe that their
art is strong enough to withstand restricted exposure.

She is the riskiest of risk takers

‘The Dreaming’ is her infamously
experimental album. It came as a great shock due to its break from her
established melodic, piano style. It did not sell particularly well and
undermined many people’s ideas of who Kate Bush was as an artist. But, in
hindsight, it was a risk worth taking as it now plays as a key stepping stone
towards her ‘Hounds Of Love’ masterpiece. At the time, it seemed like
self-sabotage and proved to be difficult recording process for her, but it can
now be understood as a necessary wall of fire that elevated her already lofty
musical ambitions. Yet another lesson – do not be afraid to explore your own
creativity.

Innovation should be her middle name

Kast Bush’s ‘Tour Of Life’ set a
whole new standard for music concerts – she sang every track from her first two
albums, changed costume 17 times, incorporated elaborate magic tricks and dance
routines, and introduced the world to the headset microphone. And even before
anyone had seen her new theatrical ‘Before The Dawn’ shows, she had already
eradicated the plague-like problem of ticket touts (through a simple but timely
bit of administration that requires the ticket holder’s name being printed on
their tickets and being matched with ID at the concert – WHY ARE NO OTHER
ARTISTS DOING THIS!?), and even stopped people from using their camera phones
via a polite but strongly willed letter to her fans saying, “I very much want
contact with you as an audience, not with iPhones, iPads or cameras”. Hooray
for stamping out arseholes who make you watch gigs through their phone screens!

“Original” is the only appropriate genre title for Kate Bush

In the beginning, she was pop’s
most unconventional star. As her music progressed she took on elements of prog
rock and mastered the concept suite with ‘The Ninth Wave’. However, no musical
genre comfortably encapsulates Kate Bush’s arms-open-wide approach to
songwriting, from the characters she embodies to the stories she tells and the
sweeping song structures she houses them all in. There really is no word worthy
of her, but “original” is as close as one can get.